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| Stefan Wermu - Reuters |
Chelsea’s
Demba Ba produced the only goal in the FA Cup quarter-final replay win against
Manchester United, setting them up with a semi-final tie at Wembley against
Manchester City.
The game lacked life during the first 20 minutes of the
game, as both sides were unable to find any rhythm in their game and were producing
sloppy passing.
This may have been down to the fact a lot of players may
have been tired from playing internationals during the last week and league
fixtures during the weekend.
After Ashley Cole was subbed off the field and replaced by
Ryan Bertrand due to a hamstring problem, the game started to earn a bit of
life.
Javier Hernandez tried to take a shot inside Chelsea’s
penalty area, but he took one turn too many and lost the ball to Ramires, who
cleared.
Chelsea had a chance of their own not long later when Eden
Hazard went on a good run, wrong footing Chris Smalling along the way, and then
rolling the ball to Demba Ba.
Ba then had a shot from the right side of the penalty area
but this shot was saved by David De Gea which caused the ball to go out for a throw
in.
Moments later, Chelsea was given a free kick thanks to a
Nani handball. David Luiz took the free kick, which went over the cross bar
convincingly.
After this, Nani tried to redeem himself with a long shot in
Chelsea’s half, but the ball went wide of Petr Cech’s right hand post.
Hazard then formed a nice one-two partnership with Oscar
inside Manchester United’s penalty area, but his shot went harmlessly over De
Gea’s crossbar.
Hernandez was the next Manchester United player to have a
shot from range on Cech’s goal. His shot was on target, and was only saved by
the feet of Cech as the ball swerved in the air.
Just before half time, John Obi Mikel had a shot on the edge
of the area for Chelsea but the ball hit Smalling and went for a corner.
Nothing came from this corner for Chelsea, so the half time
score was 0-0.
Manchester United started off with the first chance of the
second half as Luiz fouled Phil Jones on the edge of the area, giving them a
free kick.
Nani took the free kick but his shot hit the wall and his
following cross was plucked out of the air by Cech.
Two minutes later, Chelsea broke the deadlock.
Ba outstretched his leg to make contact with a Juan Mata
ball and he put enough power on the ball to guide it past De Gea to the left
side of the net, giving Chelsea a 1-0 lead.
Manchester United replied not too long after this with an
opportunity to get on the score sheet.
A cross by Danny Welbeck gave Hernandez a close range header
and a chance to score, but his header pulled out a fantastic save by Cech.
Mata responded for Chelsea after picking up a nice through
ball by Hazard in the left side of Manchester United’s area, but his shot hit
the side netting.
Michael Carrick then had a chance for Manchester United, but
he should have passed the ball instead of taking the shot as he had better
options around him. His shot from the edge of the area went wide.
Carrick made another error moments later as his lose pass
was picked up by Hazard. Hazard then dribbled the ball to the penalty area but
his shot went wide of the right hand post.
After this chance, Chelsea looked more likely to score as
Oscar’s shot five minutes before the 90 minute mark went wide of the left hand
post.
Robin Van Persie had the best chance in the last few minutes
for Manchester United as he was able to volley a Patrice Evra cross, but his
volley went over the bar.
This was an unusual site from Van Persie, who has been
scoring goals for fun this season.
No more real opportunities occurred for either side, which
meant the score finished Chelsea 1-0
Manchester United.
This win for Chelsea sets them up with a trip to Wembley to
play Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final on the 14th April.
Line-ups
Chelsea
01 Cech
02 Ivanovic
03 Cole (Bertrand - 21’ (Booked))
04 David Luiz
28 Azpilicueta (Booked)
07 Ramires
10 Mata (Booked)
11 Oscar (Booked) (Moses 90’)
12 Mikel
17 Hazard
29 Ba (Torres 90’)
Substitutes
22 Turnbull
26 Terry
34 Bertrand
08 Lampard
13 Moses
30 Benayoun
09 Torres
Manchester
United
01 De Gea
03 Evra
04 Jones
05 Ferdinand
12 Smalling
07 Valencia
16 Carrick
17 Nani (Giggs 65’)
23 Cleverley (Booked) (Van Persie 61’)
14 Hernandez
19 Welbeck (Young 80’)
Substitutes
13 Lindegaard
36 Vermijl
11 Giggs
18 Young
25 Powell
26 Kagawa
20 Van Persie
Man of
the Match: Demba Ba
Ref: Dowd
